Computer Science Technology Department
Houston Community College
Last Updated: 8/14/2008
ITNW 1425 – INTRODUCTION TO NETWORKING
Semester – Fall 2008
CRN: 64897 – Distance Education Sections
Delivered via the Internet – 24/7 at your convenience
Using Blackboard Vista (go to: http://online.hccs.edu )
Professor:
Roger Boston - Phone 713-718-5224 (Leave a Voice Message)
Please note, I respond to email much quicker than I respond to phone messages.
Regular E-mail:
Faculty Web Page:
Office Hours:
roger.boston@hccs.edu
http://tc3.hccs.edu/BostonR
By appointment as needed
Complete Syllabus: The course syllabus consists of this instructor provided section and four
other items. Please click on the following links and print out the additional information:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Catalog Entry and Text Book (specific to this course)
Course Content (specific to this course)
Standard Department Syllabus
Standard CSCI Distance Ed Course Information
These four parts are prepared by the Computer Science Technology Department and are
available on the department web site at: http://csci.hccs.edu under “Course Listing” then
“Catalog Course Descriptions” for the BCIS1405 course. They are also linked inside the
Blackboard Vista course under the “Syllabus” icon on the Course Contents menu item.
Blackboard Vista Delivery of Instruction: This course is delivered to the student using
Blackboard Vista (educational delivery software). The course materials were prepared by a
group of instructors assigned to build this course incorporating the new Office 2007 software.
Required Materials: This course requires the use of:
1. Adequate hardware including a 1 GHz or faster CPU, 1GB or more of RAM, graphics card
with 128 MB of memory, 4 GB of disk storage space and handle multimedia items
(sound and maybe a microphone [suggested but not required this semester]).
2. Windows XP – SP2 or Window Vista operating system
3. Internet Explorer version 6 or 7 (your web browser software)
4. High speed Internet access (DSL or cable - dial up will NOT work)
5. REAL PLAYER software (which is free) (if needed),
Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty (aka., cheating) is taken seriously. All work must
be done independently. You may always ask your instructor for help. You can even ask friends
and family for help in order to gain a better understanding of certain concepts. However, you
must start and finish the work independently. If you are sharing a computer or book with
another student, you must keep your work in separate folders, and start and complete the
work independently. It is very easy to determine if files have been copied and modified, etc…
Copying a file from another student, and then making minor changes to that file is cheating.
Normally you will receive an “F” in this course for Academic Dishonesty. Additional information
is inside of the BlackBoard Vista course materials.
Acceptance Guidelines: Not all people are well suited for independent study. A general set of
guidelines is used to determine if you should be accepted into the Distance Education sections
of BCIS1405. These guidelines will require you to:
1. Be self motivated or self starter: This usually means having completed at least 6 credit
hours of college and having a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or better. Exceptions must be
approved by the instructor.
2. Meet the course prerequisites: This means being ready for ENGL1301 and MATH1314
(i.e. no remediation needed) and high school computer literacy or equivalent.
3. Already be familiar with microcomputers by having used:
a. Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000 Pro, Windows XP or
Windows Vista
b. A word processing software product
c. A spreadsheet software product
d. An Internet browser
e. Files and folders. This means that you should be able to create, rename, delete,
locate, move and copy files and folders. You should also be familiar switching
between the icon view and the details view in My Computer/Windows
Explorer. A basic understanding of the above file management skills is
required.
4. Have access to computer resources:
a. either, have adequate hardware with software installed on a computer at home
or work including adequate Internet access with DSL or cable speed
b. or, be able and willing to use open lab times provided by the college to complete
the course.
c. Please note, the network or computer going down the night before an
assignment is due is NOT a valid excuse. Assignments have ample lead time
before the Cut Off Dates to allow for these types of situations. Start work early
and submit your work early and you should not have a problem.
Student Attendance/Participation is Mandatory: As a Distance Education section of this topic,
you must make satisfactory progress in this course. Students may be withdrawn if the student
misses turning in assignments or quizzes that total to more than 89 points (which is more
than 12.5% of the course work prior to the Final Exam). Contact the instructor if you are
having a problem (our course is on a 1000 point scale). If you decide to quit participating in
the course before the Last Day for Administrative/Student Withdrawals (4:30 pm., November
6th), you should see the Registrar and properly withdraw so that you will receive a W. After the
withdrawal date deadline, the instructor is not able to withdraw you. If you quit participating
in the course after the Last Day for Administrative/Student Withdrawals (4:30 pm., November
6th), you will receive an F. This will apply to all students. Incomplete grades are rarely given.
Thus, as your Professor, I expect to have regular contact with you during the semester. Most of
this contact will be electronically within the Blackboard Vista environment. Most interaction
will be via the Announcements, Discussions and Mail tools and the grading of lab assignments.
Professor Participation: I will normally enter the course via Blackboard Vista every business
day (Monday thru Friday unless it’s a Holiday), however for a variety of reasons (sick, out of
town, computer broken, internet connection not working, etc.) I may not enter the course on a
given day. Often I will enter the course more than once on a business day. I will usually enter
the course on Saturday morning, but not always. Sometimes, I will enter the course on Sunday.
Thus, it might appear that you have 24/7 instructor response and you could wrongfully expect
immediate response to all your needs. I will try to respond quickly and you should normally
have a response within 3 business days, so don’t panic if you don’t get a response in 30
minutes.
Instructors are usually allowed up to two weeks to grade assignments, however, I will try to
grade lab assignments within 7 days after the “Cut Off Date” for the assignment. In recent
semesters, I have tried to grade all assignments within 2 to 3 days after they are submitted by
students. All quizzes are self grading and students can see their results immediately.
I will read all Blackboard Vista “Mail” every time I enter the course and normally will respond
that same day. Once in a while a student’s question requires a couple of days for me to
research his question to allow me to formulate a good (correct) response.
Information for Students with Disabilities: Refer to “Standard CSCI DE Course Information”
part of the syllabus.
Final Grade: Your final grade will be posted within your Blackboard Vista course; however
official grades are provided to students by the Registrar and are available shortly after the end
of the semester. There is no other official method of posting a student’s final grade. Final
grades will not be given over the telephone by either the professor or any HCCS employee. If
you need an official transcript, see the registrar and request a transcript be sent after posting of
the grades for the semester.
During the course, your progress (lab assignment and quiz scores) will be reported to you via
the “My Grades” feature within Blackboard Vista. You should check this regularly to confirm
your progress in the course is current.
US Mailing Address, Telephone and Email Address: Make sure that your address is correct on
your student ID card and that HCC has your correct telephone and email information.
Detailed Course Evaluation: There will be a 1,000 point system used to determine the grade
for this course per the following:
Class Schedule: The below due dates are established so as to prevent
“Procrastination”
on your part. It is “strongly suggested” that students set a regular study schedule. This
will allow them to complete materials on or before the “Due Date”. Students that work ahead
will be able to handle unexpected situations that will occur in their life. Not working ahead
might cause them to miss the due date for a Learning Module. Assignments not received and
quizzes not taken by the “Cut Off Date” for a Learning Module will not be received and will be
given the grade of zero.
Assignments must be submitted and quizzes taken by 11:55:00 PM (on OUR CLOCK) on the “Cut
Off Date”. The “Due Date” is when we highly recommend finishing the module. The “Cut Off
Date” is when the module MUST be submitted. Remember, you can always turn in assignments
before the “Due Date”, but never after the “Cut Off Date”.
If you are having problems completing course materials on time (by the “Due Date”), chat with
the instructor. If you have over scheduled your life (working 40 hours a week and taking 15
credit hours of college instruction), have computer problems (my computer is broke and I don’t
know when it will get fixed) or don’t have a textbook (too poor to buy one until payday) –
DON’T BE SURPRISED IF THE INSTRUCTOR SIMPLY SAYS, “You should withdraw from the
course”. In other words, you might not get much sympathy and the instructor will expect
materials to be submitted by the “Cut Off Date”.
However, under unusually circumstances (death or illness in the family and other items that
greatly disrupt your life), the instructor might be willing to accept late materials. But the time
to chat with the instructor is when something is “Due”. Don’t wait until the “Cut Off Date” to
announce that you have a problem and would like some consideration; again – you might not
get much sympathy.
Calendars 2008 – check for holidays and other key
dates
August 20 Wednesday Application Deadline for International Transfer Students
August 22 Friday Last Day for 100% Refund
August 23 Saturday Classes Begin - Drop/Add/Swap Fee ($15.00) Begins
70% Refund
August 26 Tuesday Registration Ends
August 29 Friday Last Day for Drop/Add/Swap
September 1 Monday Offices Closed - Labor Day Holiday
September 5 Friday Official Date of Record
25% Refund
October 15 Wednesday Priority Deadline for Fall Completion of Degrees or Certificates
TBA Offices Closed - All-College Conference
November 6 Thursday Last Day for Administrative/Student Withdrawals - 4.30 pm
November 15 Saturday Application Deadline for Fall Federal Student Loans
November 26 Wednesday No Night Classes before Thanksgiving
Offices Closed - Thanksgiving Holiday
December 1 Monday Veteran's Advanced-Pay Application Deadline for Spring Session
December 7 Sunday Instruction Ends
Final Examinations
December 14 Sunday Semester Ends
December 15 Monday Grades Due by - 12:00 Noon
December 19 Friday Grades Available to Students
Offices Closed - Christmas Break
Schedule of Topics
Aug 25
Sep 1
Sep 9
Sep 16
Sep 23
Sep 25
Sep 30
Oct 7
Oct 14
Oct 21
Oct 28
Oct 31
Nov 4
Nov 11
Nov 18
Nov 25
Dec 1
Dec 5
Dec 5
Dec 5,6,7
week)
Introductory topics, Chap 1
Network Design Essentials Chap 2
Networking Media, Chap 3
Network Interface cards, Chap 4
Making Networks work, Chap 5
Exam 1 Posted Online
Network Communications and Protocols, Chap 6
Network Architectures, Chap 7
Simple Network Operations, Chap 8
Understanding Complex Networks, Chap 9
Introduction to Network Security, Chap 10
Exam 2 Posted Online
Supporting a Small business network, Chap 11
Network administration and support, Chap 12
Enterprise and Wide Area Networks, Chap 13
Solving Network Problems, Chapter 14
Review and Consolidation, Instructor
Semester projects due
CD/ROM Summaries due
Final Exam on campus - CLOSED BOOK (or by appointment the following
COURSE REPEATER POLICY:
Students who repeat a course for a third or more times may soon face significant
tuition/fee increases at HCC and other Texas public colleges and universities. Please ask
your instructor and/or counselor about opportunities for tutoring/other assistance prior to
considering course withdrawal or if you are not receiving passing grades.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS:
Receiving a “W” in a course may affect the status of your student Visa. Once a “W” is
given for the course, it will not be changed to an “F” because of the visa consideration.
Since January 1, 2003, International Students are
The grading scale is a follows:
restricted in the number of distance education courses
that they may take during each semester. ONLY ONE
A - 900 to 1000 points (90% to 100%) online/distance education class may be counted
B - 800 to 899 points (80% to 89.9%)
towards the enrollment requirement for International
C - 700 to 799 points (70% to 79.9%)
Students per semester. Please contact the
D - 600 to 699 points (60% to 69.9%)
International Student Office at 713-718-8520 if you
F - 0 to 599 points (0% to 59.9%)
have any questions about your visa status and other
transfer issues
Based on:
Exam 1:
Exam 2:
CD/ROM activities:
Semester Project:
Cumulative final:
200 points
200 points
150 points
150 points
300 points
Note:
The Final Exam requires an on-campus visit. Follow the instructions in the Distance
Education Section of the Orientation for dates and times for the final. It will be cumulative, 100
questions, Multiple Choice.
DE Course Orientation:
Each student is expected to complete the Distance Education Department’s orientation during
the first week of class.
http://de.hccs.edu/portal/site/de/
DE Student User ID:
Your student login user id will be your HCC User ID (sometimes referred to as the “W”
number). All HCC students have a unique User ID. It is the same number you used for class
registration. The default student password will still be “distance.” As always, students will then
be prompted to change their password after their first login.
Blackboard Technical Support for HCC:
HCC has contracted with Blackboard and Presidium Learning to establish a 24/7 support
environment to provide comprehensive technical help desk services for all users (students,
faculty, and staff). There will be a 24/7 toll-free phone service, a comprehensive online
Blackboard Vista knowledge base, real-time chat and the ability to submit and track a “trouble
ticket”. Click on the “Support Center” link on the Distance Education’s home page at:
http://de.hccs.edu/portal/site/de/